Feed mechanism.



E. E. WINKLEY.

FEED MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1915.

Patented Jan; 1, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E. E. WINKLEY. FEED MECHANISM.

APPLICATIG'N HLED APR-1,1915,

1,2515%. ritnted Jan. 1, 19 1s.

3 fiHEETS-SHEET 2.

nnrrnp snares GEE-ICE.

EBASTUS E. WINKLEY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

man MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

Application filed-April l, 1815. Serial No. 18,494.

To all whom it may concern:

. nism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates feeding blanks of sheet-material singly from astack.

The object of the invention is to produce.

feed-mechanism adapted particularly t operate upon blanks of which thematerial i subject to variations and irregularities as to thickness orto departures from the normal,

flat condition of the material. The invenvtion is particularly useful inconnection with blanks of sole-leather, such as are employed inshoe-heels, but it is applicable generally to use in connection withsheetmaterials of suflicient thickness and firmness to permit the modeof operation hereinafter described. a

It has heretofore been proposed to feed blank-s of leather or othersheet-material by expelling them one-by-one edgewise, from the end of astack, and'to prevent the expulsion of more than one blank at a. time bymeans of a fixed stop or gage so located as to clear the edge of thefirst blank and to engage the edge of the second blank and retain thelatter while the first blank is'being expelled. The successful operationof such an arrangement, however, depends upon both an approximateuniformity in thickness and a'substantially fiat condition of theblanks, for if the blanks vary widely in thickness the operation of themachine will be interfered with by. the presence either of a' blank toothick to pass the stop,

or of two ore more blanks so thin as to be expelled simultaneously;while if the blanks are not fiat the first or endmost blank may fail toclear the stop, regardless of the thickness of the blank. 4

In accordance with the above object the present invention contemplatesthe provito mechanism for sion of means, for separating and removing thefirst blank of the stack adapted to compensate automatically for suchdifferences in thickness, or other characteristics, as may beencountered in the blanks, the operative positions of such means beingvariable in accordance with such variability from the normal in theblanks. This is accomplished 'by so holding or arranging the. blanks inthe stack, at or prior to the time of operanon of the blank-separatingmeans, that the first and second blanks have an overlapping relation,each of these blanks having a marginal surface which projects beyond theother blank. By engagement with one of these exposed marginal surfacesthe blank-separatmg means are enabled to distinguish, so to speak,between the said two blanks,'in such a manner as eifectually to separatethem and to remove the first'blank singly from the stack. The separatingmeans are also preferably arranged to subject the projecting marginalportion of. the first blank to sufficient pressure to flatten it in caseit is distorted or curved, and to remove the blank while so flattened. 4

By determining the position of the separating-means automatically, ateach operation, in accordance with the. thickness of the blank, and byinsuringthat any blank.

which is-not flat shall be flattened prior to the removal of the blank,feed-mechanism has beenproduced which will operate reliably under themost adverse conditions, such as are encountered, for example, in thefeeding of blanks punched from leather hides, so that such blanks may bepiled in a stack without particular care as to their condition andselection, and may then be fed with the regularity and precision whichis necessary where feed-mechanism is employed in connection withautomatic malfzllrlery for operating upon the blanks so e To theaccomplishment of the object referred to and such others asmayhereinafter appear, as will'readily be understood by hereinafterdescribed and particularly pointedout in the appended claims p,

naansse The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1, 2 and 3 are a side-elevation, a front elevation, and a planview of feed mechanism embodying the present invention; and 4 Figs. 4.to 9, inclusive, are fragmentary side-elevations showing particularlythe instrumentalities which operate directly upon the blanks, in varioussuccessive operative positions.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated as embodied inmechanism adapted to hold a stack of blanks or lifts of leather,leather-board or other material, of a form suitable for use in themanufacture of shoe heels, and to feed these lifts singly orsuccessively from the bottom of the stack, so that the lifts so fed areexpelled from the stack at thefront of the machine and may betransferred thence, by any suitable means, to a machine of any characterfor operating upon the lifts.

The lifts at the bottom of the stack are designated by the letters a, b,c, in Figs. 4 to 9 inclusive, the lowermost lift a, which is about to befed,being hereinafter referred to as the first blank of the stack. Sincethe invention is not necessarily embodied in an arrangement in which thestack is held vertical, or in which the lifts are fed from the lowerend, the various directions of move ments of the parts are, forconvenience, here inafter described as follows; A movement in thedirection in which the lifts are expelled from the stack, which, in thepresent instance, is a movement from left to right as shown in Figs. 1,3, e, etc, is described as an outward movement, and a movement in theopposite direction as an inward movement, while a movement in thedirection in which the stack of lifts is advanced is referred to as aforward or advancing movement, while a movement in the oppositedirection is referred to as a backward or retreating movement, theselast movements being downward and upward. in the present machine.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the means for separatingand removing the heel-lifts from the stack comprise a feed-dog 11, whichengages the inner edge of the first lift of the stack and expels thislift by an outward or right-hand movement, (viewing Fig. 1). Thesimultaneous feeding of more than one lift is prevented by a stop, whichcomprises two fingers l2 and 13, hereinafter referred to as the firstand second stop-fingers, respectively. The lifts descend by gravity,between guides by which they are retained in the form of a stack, andthe lowermost or first rests upon a horizontal table 14;, along which itis fed when expelled from the stack.

Since'the particular construction of the mechanism by whlch theoperative instruinentahties of the machine are actuated 1s not essentialto the invention, the nature of V the invention may be readily gatheredfrom a description of the movements performed by the parts alreadyreferred to, as shown particularly in Fig. l and Figs. 4 to 9.

An important feature of the operation resides in the fact that themovements of the lifts while in the stack areso controlled that at leastthe lowermost two lifts, i- 6., the first and second lifts, are in anoverlapping relation, so that each has a margin projecting beyond theedge of the other. This relation of the lifts is most simply andconveniently secured by arranging the guides for the stack portionswhich are adjacent to the table 14, but it will be apparent that thisrelation may be secured in other ways. As shown in Fig. l, the stack isheld in guides of which the upper parts are vertical, but the lowerextremities are curved. These uides comprise a member 68, having alongitudinal channel of V-shape in cross-section, which provides twoflat walls 69 adapted to coiipe'rate with the curved rear edges of theheel-lifts. The

, breast-edge of each lift rests against a-guide in the form of a metalplate 71, which issupported on rods 70 held parallel with the member 68by cross-bars 7 2. This construction is such that access may be hadreadily to any I part of the stack of lifts held in the guides, throughthe open sides of the guideway. The lifts descend through this guidewayby the effect of gravity, but it may be desirable, in some cases, toassist the movement by the addition of a weight 7 3 placed upon the top'of the stack.

Considering Figs. 4 to. 9, the parts are shown in Fig. i in the positionin which the first stop-linger 12 has moved into the angular space abovethe outer margin of the first lift a and in front of the outer edge ofthe second lift 5, the first finger being held yieldingly in engagementwith the margin of the first lift. The second finger then rises to theposition of Fig; 5, and there upon the feed-dog 11 moves from left toright, thus forcing the first lift outwardly beneath the stop-fingers,and as soon as the first lift has been thus expelled the firststopfinger descends to the level of the table. The stack of lifts atonce settles, so that the second lift now rests upon the table ready tobe fed in its turn. To insure the comple so that they are inclined in atleast those under the lift 6; and with the stop in the position shown inFig. 8 the dog makes a slight forward movement, so as to engage theinner edge of the lift 5' as in Fig. 8, and thus prevent inward movementof the lift. The stop-fingers are at this time pressed yieldinglyagainst the edge of the ift b, and the second-finger next advances, asin Fig. 9; and the first finger retreats and brings the parts to theposition shown in Fig. 1. This retreating movement of the first fingeris sufliciently extensive to insure that the finger'shall be moved clearof the margin of the lift,'no matter how thick the lift may be or howirregular in form. As soon as the first finger has so cleared the lift 6both fingers are swung yieldingly in an inward (left-hand) direction, soas to bring the second finger into engagement with the edge of the lift6 and bring-the first finger into position above the margin of the lift6.. At this time the feed-dog 11 prevents movement of the lift 6, butthe lift 0 is free to ield inwardly, so that if its edge is not suciently retracted at this time beyond the edge of the first lift 5 itwill be engaged and pressed inwardly by the first finger, during thecombined retracting and inward movement of the finger. Accordingly, whenthe first finger next advances it infallibly en agesthe margin of thelift, and continues to advance until it has flattened the lift againstthe table, thus insuring both the proper feeding of the first lift andthe retention of the second lift in the stack. V

It will be apparent that the function of the second stop-finger is todetermine the position of the first finger while the latter is heldclear of the lifts, as in Fig. 1. This the second finger does by itsengagement 4 with 'the edge of the first lift, thus auto.-

matically holding the first finger in a position in which its advancingmovement will cause it to engage the margin of the first lift but toclear the margin of the second lift.

The mechanisms by which the several mov ements above described are givento the parts will now be brieflydescribed. The

two stop-fingers 12 and 13 have shanks 33 and 34, respectively, whichslide longitudinally in a carrier 35, the sliding movementscorresponding to the advancing and retreating movements of the'iingers.The in and out movements of the fingers are produced by swinging thecarrier, and for this purose it is supported, at its upper end, by a hub36 (Figs. 1 and 2) which turns freely on a stud 37 mounted in an upright38 constituting part of the frame of the machine. The swinging movementsof the carrier are produced by a cam-mechanism,comprising a *cam 43mounted on .a camshaft 29 'ournaled on the frame of the machine.

his shaft is rotated constantly byconnecgear 30 being shown on the shaftfor this purpose. The cam 43 is engaged by a roller 42 on one arm 41 ofa bell-crank1ever,which is pivoted on a fixed rod 25, and the other 'arm40 of the lever is connected, by a link 39, with a stud 67 at the lowerend of the carrier 35. The cam-mechanism imparts positive outwardmovements to the carrier and the fingers, while the inward movements areproduced by the operation of a s ring 44, connected to the arm 41 and tothe rame of the machine.

To produce the sliding movements of the shank ,33 and the finger 12 thisshank is provided with a lug 55, to which the lower end of 'a slide-rod56 is secured. The upper part of the rod slides freely in an arm 57projecting upwardly from thehub 36.- A spring 58, compressed between thearm 57 and a collar 59 fixed on the rod 56, tends to move the partsdownwardly, while movement in the opposite direction is produced by arocking member .45, pivoted on the end of the stud 37. Thismember has anarm 60, which is bifurcated to clear the rod 56 and which engages thelower surface of the collar 59. The rocking member 45 is actuated by alink 47, connecting it with one arm 48 of a second bell-crank leverpivoted on the rod 25. The other arm 49 of the lever carries acam-roller 50 which engages a cam 51 fixed on and actuatedby thecamshaft 29. The cam-mechanism rocks the member 45 positively in acounter-clockwise direction, while movement in the opposite direction isproduced by a spring 52 which is connected, at one end, with the pin 53which pivots together the link 47 and the arm 48, the other end of thespring being fixed to a-pin 54 on the guideway 68.

,The rocking member 45 actuates the shank 34 of the stop-finger 13through connections comprisinga lug 61 on the shank, a link 62 pivotedto the lug and provided, at its upper end, with a slot 63, and a pin 64carried by an arm 65 on the rocking member, this pin engaging the slot63. By these connections the shank 34 is raised positively during thelast part of the counter-clockwise movement of the rocking member, whenthe pin 64, after traversing the slot 63, reaches the 'end of the slotand engages the link 62 positively. The movement of the shank 34 and thefinger 13 in the opposite direction is produced by a spring 66, of whichthe upthis dog is mounted upon a lever '15 which is pivoted on a lugrising from a sleeve 16. .This sleeve slides horizontally on a rod fixedon the frame of the machine. A spring 18 normally presses the righthandarm of the lever -15-up-wardly, so as to bring the dog into operativeposition, this movement being limited by engagement ,of the left-handarm of-the leverjwith the slee've,

as shown in Pig. 1, T he ob ect of this'arrangement is to permit thefeed-dog, during its return. movement from right to liaft, to bedepressed beneath the lowermost heellift in the stack, which isaccomplished by a rocking movement of the lever 15, the lever beingreturned to operative position by the spring 18 as soon as the dog haspassed its other arm 26 carries a cam-roller 27 which rests upon theperiphery of a cam 28 mounted on the camshaft 29. The cammechanisrnmoves the sleeve 16 positively from right to left, while movement in theopposite direction is produced by a spring 22 connected between thelever 19 and the'trame of the machine.

While the inclined position of the lower part of the stack of blankstends, as has been stated, to secure the overlapping relation of thefirst and second blank which is essential to the operation of thestop-fingers, it will be apparent that thisiinclined position is notindispensable to successful operation, for the cotlperative action ofthe feed-dog and the stop-fingers upon the first and second blanks will,by itself, secure the necessary overlapping relation, even though thesetwo blanks are, before such action, exactly alined. It should beunderstood, accordingly, that in the following claims the elipressionmeans for holding a stack of blanks with the first and second blank inoverlapping relation is not intended to designate a stack-holder inwhich the said blanks necessarily assume the overlapping position priorto the operation of the stop-fingers and feed-dog tl11' m,ll)llt isintended to designate any stack-holder in which the first and secondblanks may as some, and be held and supported in, such position prior tothe expulsion of the first blank from the stack.

The operation of the machine, as a whole, will be obvious from theforegoing description and need not be further described, but it may bepointed out that those movements of the stop-fingers which occur whilethe fingers engage the heel-lifts are produced by spring action and,while sufiicientlypositive to insure inormal operation, they are notmenses powerful enough to cause injury to the machine in case anyunusual obstruction is en countered, through defective operation orotherwise. In case, therefore, of any chok- I 119; of the blanks in themachine its operation is simply interrupted, and the trouble may bereadily cured owing to the convenient access to all of the workingparts.

While the feed mechanism above described is complete and operative assuch, it

will be understood that its function is to a other forms within thenature of the inven- I tion as it is defined 1n the following claims.

What is claimed as new, is 5-: v

1. Feed-mechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first and second blank in overlapping relation, andmeans for separating the first blank from the second and removing thefirst blank from the stack, the separating means operating automaticallyon the blanks by movement into and out of the angular space between theedge of one of the blanks and the adjacent marginal sur-' face of one ofthem which isexposed by reason of said overlapping.

2. Feed-mechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first and second blank in overlapping relation; meansfor applying pressure to the projecting margin of the first blank,

to t -ttcn the material of the blank; mecha nism for moving said meansinto and out of operative position; and means for expelling the firstblank from the stack While so flattened;

Feed-mechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first blank in a position in which its margin projectsbeyond the second blank; a stop for engaging and retaining the secondblank; means for moving the stop automatically into and out of avariable operative position determined by the thickness of the firstblank; and means for expelling the first blank, in the direction of itsprojecting margin, while the second, blank is retained by the-stop.

4:. Feedmechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first blank in a position in which its margin projectsbeyond the second blank; a stop normally sustained above and out ofcontact with the blanks; means foimovin I the stop into the angularspace between sai margin of the first blank and the edge ofthe secondblank; and means for expelling the first blank, in the direction of itsprojecting margin, while the second blank is retained by the stop.

5'. Feed-mechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first blank in a position in which its margin projectsbeyond the second blank;'

astop; means for moving the stop into the angular space between saidmargin of the first blank and the edge of the second blank,

such movement being terminated by the engagement of the stop with themargin of one of said blanks; and means for expelling the first blank,in the direction of its projecting margin, while the second blank isretained positively by engagement of its edge with the stop.

6. Feedmechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first blank in a position in which its margin projectsbeyond the second b'lankya stop for engaging and retaining the secondblank; means for moving the stop first away from the blanks, then intoengagement with I while the first blank is expelled; and means formoving the stop first away'from the blanks, then into engagement withthe edge of the first blank, then into engagement with 'the projectingmargin of the first-blank prior to the operation of the expelling means,and finally into the space previously occupied by the projecting marginof the first blank after the operation of the expelling means.

8. I*"eed-mechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stackof blanks with the first 'blank in a position in which its marginprojects beyond the second blank; a stop; means for moving the stop intoengagement with the projecting edge of the first blank, and theninwardly, to move said blank to a predetermined position, and for thenretracting the stop and moving it farther inward to bring it into theangnlar space between the margin of the first blank and theedge of thesecond blank, and then advancing it into yielding engagement with themargin of the first blank; and means for 65,

expelling the first blank, in the direction of its projecting edge,while the second blank is retained by the stop.

9. Feed-mechanism, having, in combination} means for-holding a stack ofblanks with the first blankin a position in which its margin projectsbeyond the second "blank; means for expelling the first blank in thedirection of its projecting margin; a stop for retaining the secondblank while the first blank is expelled, said stop comprising twofingers; and means for moving the fingers alternatively to advanced andretracted positions, and for moving the fingers simultaneously in inwardand outward directions.

10. Feed-mechanism, having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first blank in a position in which its margin projectsbeyond the second blank; means for expelling the first blank in thedirection of its projecting margin; a stop for retaining the secondblank while the first blank is expelled, said stop comprising a firstfinger and a second finger; and means for moving the fingers bothsimultaneously and relatively, whereby the first finger is moved intothe angular space between the margin of the first blank and the edge ofthe second blank While the second finger is held in engagement with theedge ofthe first blank to limit the inward movement of the first finger,andthe second finger is then retracted out of engagement with'the firstblank to permit the blank to be expelled.

11. Feed-mechanism, having, in combination, a guideway for holding anupright stack of blanks, with the lowermost part of the stack inclinedso that the margin of the first blank projects beyond the edge of thesecond blank; a pair of stopfingers'; a laterally movable carrier forsupporting the fingers, the fingers being longitudinally movable in thecarrier; and means for automatieally moving the fingers in the carrier,and moving the carrier laterally, to actuate the fingers in apredetermined cycle of operations. I

12. Feed-mechanism having, in combina-. tion, means for holding a stackof blanks with the first blank in a position in which its marginprojects beyond the second blank; and means, for separating the firstblank from the second blank and expelling it from the stack, includinga' finger, and means for movin the finger inward into the angular space'etween said margin of the first blank andthe edge ,of the second blankand then downward into engagement with said marginwithin said space.

13. Feed-mechanism having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks with the first blank in a position in which its 'from the secondblank and expelling it from the stack, including a finger, and means for'moving the finger first away from the blanks, then into engagement withthe edge of the first blank, and then into engagement with theprojecting margin of the first blank.

1,74. Feed-mechanism having, in combination, means for holding a stackof blanks; and means, for separating the first blank from the secondblank and expelling it from the stack, including means for engaging thefirst blank only and arresting inward movement thereof a finger, andmeans for first pressing the nnger against the edge of the first blankto move it inwardly, then disengaging the finger from the first blankand moving it into engagement with and pressing it against the edge ofthe second blank, to move the latter inwardly beyond the first blank,and then pressing the finger against the overlapping margin of the firstblank.

15. Feed-mechanism having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks;

means for arresting'inward movement of the first blank only 01 thestack; and means for pushing the second blank inwardly beyond the firstblank and then entering the angular space between the edge of the secondblank and the adjacent margin of the first blank and preventing outwardmovement of the second blank by engagement I with its edge.

.16. Feed-mechanism having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks; means for arresting inward movement of the first blank only ofthe stack; a finger; means for moving the finger yieldingly in an inwarddirection and first into the angular space between the edge of thesecond blank and the adjacent margin of the first blank, and then intoengagement with said margin; and means, connected with the finger andadapted to engage the edge of the first blank, for limiting the inwardmovement of the finger and determiningthe point of its engagement withsaid margin of the first blank.

17. eed-mechanism having, in combination, means for holding a stack ofblanks; means for arresting inward movement of the first blank only ofthe stack; and means for pushing the second blank inwardly beyond thefirst blank and for entering into and remaining in the angular space soproduced, between the margin of the first blank and the edge of thesecond blank, during the expulsion of the first blank.

18. Feed-mechanism for separating superposed blanks and feeding themseparately, having, in combination, means for support-' ing twosuperposed blanks, and means for relatively displacing the blanks tosecure an overlapping relation and for entering the angular space, soproduced, between the margin of one blank and the edge of the other toassist in separating the blanks, said means being guided into said spaceby yielding engagement with, and an inward movement over the edge of,one of the blanks.

19. Feed-mechanism having, in combination, a support on which a blank ofsheet-.

material may rest; a holder for holding a stack of blanks on thesupport, the holder being inclined to the support so that the blankstherein tend to assume an overlapping relation; means for expelling theblank which engages the support by movement in the direction oi itsprojecting edge; a stop,

for preventing. the simultaneous expulsion of the second blank, having asquare extremity; and means for moving said extremity l nto the angularspace between the overlapping margin of the first blank and the adjacentedge of the second blank and for retaining it in said space during theexpulsion of the first blank.

ERASTUS E. VVINKLEY.

